The emergence of big data as a tool to manage and analyze large and complex data sets offers great promise and opportunity, but also raises serious privacy challenges and considerations, especially to personal privacy. Public and health sector institutions increasingly use big data tools to improve programs and public services and ensure they are supported by better evidence.
As the oversight agency for the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act and the Personal Health Information Protection Act, the IPC is committed to ensuring that big data is used in a privacy protective way. Our office will continue to work closely with public and health care institutions in Ontario to ensure that your privacy rights are protected in the era of big data.
To further raise public awareness about privacy rights in a big data world, the IPC has also developed this new fact sheet to help you better understand what big data is and how it can impact your privacy.
